


Big Brass Ego

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Episode Tag, Established Relationship, Jealousy, M/M, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: Episode Tag for Season 21, Episode 6, "Murdered at a Bad Address".Barba meets up with Carisi in Queens to get lunch and runs into Carisi's former Fordham Law professor.





	Big Brass Ego

**Author's Note:**

> Last night's episode was literally the queerest Carisi has been since Barba left so naturally, I couldn't not.
> 
> <strike>I rewatched large chunks of the episode this morning and checked IMDB and to my knowledge, Wentworth Miller's character is never named, so I'm calling him ADA Miller in this. If ever a character name does emerge, I'll update accordingly.</strike> SVU Writer's Room Twitter [name-dropped](https://twitter.com/SVUWritersRoom/status/1190094505946599424?s=20) him as ADA Isaiah Holmes, so I've edited as such
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Barba strolled almost leisurely through the Queens County courthouse, taking it in as if seeing it for the first time. Which in some ways, he was, since any previous visits had been straight to the courtroom or conference room to hammer out some kind of arrangement between the Manhattan DA’s office and Queens DA’s office.

But today he was meeting Carisi, who had texted him and asked him if he wanted to grab some lunch in between motions hearings that he was sitting in on.

_ You know you don’t have to actually stay if you’re not giving testimony in the hearing _, Barba had replied, mostly since he wasn’t relishing the idea of a trip out to Queens.

_ Like that ever once stopped you, _ Carisi texted back, and Barba had to admit he had a point.

So with the luxury of more flexibility at work than Barba had ever had before, he had schlepped out to Queens to grab lunch with the man he swore he saw even less frequently than when Carisi was a detective, which Barba hadn’t previously thought was possible. 

He saw heard Carisi before he saw him, that Staten Island accent unmistakable no matter where he was, but when Carisi rounded the corner, he wasn’t alone. Barba sized up the man walking next to him in about fifteen seconds, his smile sharpening into something cold when he realized who it was.

Carisi clapped Queens ADA Isaiah Holmes on the shoulder before half-jogging over to where Barba was waiting. “Hey,” he said, flashing Barba a slightly tired smile and touching his arm gently, as intimate a touch Barba knew he was willing to make at work.

“Hey yourself,” Barba returned, looking over Carisi’s shoulder at where ADA Holmes was watching them. “I forgot you and ADA Holmes go way back.” Carisi blanched, eyes wide, and Barba let him panic for a moment before adding blithely, “He was one of your professors at Fordham, wasn’t he?”

Carisi let out his breath in a huff. “Oh, yeah, of course—”

“And of course you used to sleep together.”

Barba said it pleasantly enough but Carisi still looked somewhat mortified. “How’d you—”

“Counselor, please. Between your penchant for authority figures and ADA Holmes’s good looks, I’d be disappointed if you hadn’t slept with him.”

Carisi laughed lightly and shook his head. “Should’ve known you’d figure it out,” he said, somewhat mournfully, giving Barba a sideways glance. “Is this, uh, is this awkward for you?”

Barba arched an eyebrow at him. “Why would it be awkward?” he asked. “You’ve had other lovers, and other attempted lovers, for lack of a better term. I’m not naive, I know I’m hardly the first man you’ve been with.”

“Yeah, but still—”

Whatever Carisi was about to say was cut off by ADA Holmes strolling over to join them, and Barba immediately straightened, pulling himself up to his full height and raising his chin just slightly. “Rafael,” Holmes said, holding his hand out for Barba to shake.

“Isaiah,” he returned, matching his tone.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Holmes said mildly, and Carisi glanced between them, eyes wide.

“Do you two, uh, know each other?”

Barba’s smile sharpened. “Oh, we go way back, isn’t that right?”

Holmes chuckled. “Something like that, anyway.” He reached out and clapped Carisi on the shoulder, though his eyes never left Barba’s as he did. “I imagine you must be quite proud of everything ADA Carisi has accomplished.”

“Of course,” Barba said immediately, and Carisi looked over at him, his smile softening, just slightly. But Barba mostly ignored him, focusing instead on the ADA who was still looking at him like he was gloating about something. “As I assume are you.”

“Don’t be modest, Rafael, we all know Sonny wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for your...special interest in him.”

Barba’s lip curled. “And you shouldn’t sell yourself — or your...tutelage at Fordham Law — short.”

Carisi shrugged away from Holmes’s hand, looking distinctly like he didn’t want to be there for the rest of the conversation. “I’m gonna, uh, go find Fin,” he muttered, before taking off down the hallway. 

Holmes glanced at Barba, his expression unreadable. “He’s still not out at work,” he observed, something of a question in his tone, and Barba shrugged.

“That’s his choice,” he said evenly. “I support him regardless of what he decides.”

“Really? Never thought you’d go back in the closet for a man.”

Something about Holmes’s tone got Barba’s hackles up and his smile faded. “Last I checked, I wasn’t in the closet,” he said, his voice low. “But Carisi has the right to come out when and how and to whomever he wants. His family knows about us, and he disclosed our relationship to his boss at the DA’s office, against my recommendation, I might add.”

ADA Holmes’s brow furrowed. “Why?” he asked.

“Why did I recommend against it, or why did he disclose?”

“Both.”

Barba shrugged, feeling somewhat like he’d again gained the upper hand in the conversation. “I recommended against it because I am no longer an employee of New York County, nor am I an employee of the City or New York State, and therefore I pose no conflict of interest. As such, he is under no legal or ethical obligation to disclose.” He gave Holmes a look. “Any attorney would advise the same.”

Holmes looked almost amused. “And yet he ignored your advice and disclosed anyway.”

Barba snorted. “Of course he did. He’s Carisi.”

Holmes laughed lightly at that, shaking his head. “It’s sad that I know exactly what you mean,” he mused, and Barba perked up slightly, knowing an opportunity when he saw one.

“I assume Carisi made no such disclosure about your previous relationship in the context of this case,” Barba said innocently, and Holmes’s smile disappeared.

“Well,” he said, and Barba’s own smile sharpened, sensing blood in the water. “Like you said, he had no legal or ethical obligation—”

“And yet he still chose not to.” Barba delivered the words plainly, and Holmes’s face darkened at the implication. “Interesting.”

“If you’re concerned about my relationship with ADA Carisi—”

Barba’s smile widened. “Believe me, I’m not.” He cocked his head slightly. “Even if I do know how he’s always had a thing for men in authority positions.”

Holmes’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re not jealous?”

“Of you? That would be a first.”

Holmes laughed again, even as something in his expression turned calculating. “C’mon, Rafael,” he said, his tone overly familiar, “you can’t tell me it doesn’t bother you that I got to have him first.”

Barba raised his chin slightly. “I’m quite certain ADA Carisi would object to you saying you ‘had’ him at all,” he started, a note of warning in his voice, “but that aside, believe me, I could’ve ‘had’ him any time I wanted.”

Holmes didn’t seem put off by his tone. “And yet you didn’t.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but the timing wasn’t right.”

“Well, your lack of timing was my gain.”

He sounded unbearably smug and Barba took a step closer to him, his smile icy cold as he looked up at him. “Let’s get one thing clear, Isaiah,” he said pleasantly. “You may have ‘had’ Sonny first, but I’m the one who got him down on one knee asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. So given the two options, I’m more than happy with the way things turned out.” His smile sharpened. “And besides, I don’t have to work in Queens. Have a nice day, Counselor.”

He brushed past him, making his way toward where Carisi was hovering nervously, clearly waiting for them to be done. When he reached Carisi, he splayed his hand across his back, steering him toward the exit and knowing full well that Holmes was watching them leave. 

Carisi sighed, though he also leaned in to Barba’s touch, just a little. “You two done measuring your dicks now?” he asked sourly.

Barba barked a laugh, holding the door open for Carisi. “Something like that, anyway,” he said, and Carisi smiled down at him, a real smile this time, his dimples deepening the way they always did when it was just the two of them.

“And?” he asked, somewhat teasingly, brushing against Barba lightly as they walked together, far too close to be just colleagues to anyone with working eyes.

Barba just smirked, knowing full well that as far as he was concerned, he’d won the round, the match, and the bout, just as he would with any of Carisi’s exes. “And mine’s bigger.”


End file.
